Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 is Associated with Long-term Clinical Outcome in Patients with COVID-19: a Longitudinal Study

  1. Javier García-Abellán
  2. Sergio Padilla
  3. Marta Fernández-González
  4. José A. García
  5. Vanesa Agulló
  6. María Andreo
  7. Sandra Ruiz
  8. Antonio Galiana
  9. Félix Gutiérrez
  10. Mar Masiá

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Abstract

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  1. Version published to 10.1007/s10875-021-01083-7
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.08.21253124: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    IgG antibody plasma levels against the SARS-CoV-2 internal nucleocapsid (N) protein (N-IgG) (Anti-SARS-CoV-2-NCP IgG ELISA, Euroimmun, Lubeck, Germany) and surface S1 domain of the spike protein (S-IgG) (Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA, Euroimmun, Lubeck, Germany) were measured using commercial semi-quantitative EIA kits in an automated instrument (Dynex DS2® ELISA system).
    N) protein (N-IgG
    suggested: None
    Anti-SARS-CoV-2-NCP IgG ELISA, Euroimmun, Lubeck, Germany
    suggested: None
    Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG
    suggested: None
    A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to find the most discriminative serum level of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies predicting persistence of symptoms.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 was performed on NPS samples following ARTIC amplicon sequencing protocol for MinIon version V3 (see Supplementary material for full description).
    MinIon
    suggested: (MinION, RRID:SCR_017985)
    Statistical analysis was performed using R-project version 3.6.2.
    R-project
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    The sample size is a limitation of the study. Long-COVID is a heterogeneous syndrome and the associations found might differ according to the nature of the symptoms analyzed. We focused on subjects reporting the highest scores in the questionnaire to identify those symptoms that were more likely to be meaningful to patients and avoid overrepresentation of long-COVID cases. However, sensitivity analyses including patients with any symptom, or those with a score above the median, showed similar results. Strengths are the longitudinal design with consecutive sampling, close monitoring and thorough investigations conducted in the patients. In conclusion, long-term follow-up of patients hospitalized for COVID shows a high frequency of clinical events after hospitalization, a durable antibody response of S-IgG, and frequent RT-PCR test positivity/re-positivity occurring beyond two months after acute infection, but with no evidence of reinfection. Persistent symptoms are common in the medium and long term. Gender, severity of illness and the immune response are associated with long-COVID, but with different implication according to the temporality of symptoms. The antibody response predicts both mid-term and long-term clinical outcomes, and consequently the use of monoclonal antibodies or boosting the antibody response with vaccination might be potential strategies to prevent long-COVID.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.08.21253124v1 on medRxiv